Rejection isn't a four letter word

I suppose one of many perks of being older is that rejection isn't such an awful thing. I don't know if anyone ever gets used to being rejected.  But after living 20 or 30 or more years, most of us learn that it is indeed a part of life and it happens more often the harder one tries to accomplish anything worth going after.

When I went through my youthful experience of drinking copious amounts of alcohol for about 10 years, the rejection factor didn't seem to matter. Heck, if one stays drunk enough nothing matters other than trying to lie and manipulate enough to stay out of or get out of serious trouble.
But when the music stops and life begins, it's then that the feelings of rejection begin and in the early stages of facing reality head on, the rejections are numerous and many of them really hurt.
You're not big enough, strong enough, educated enough or seemingly enough of anything for about any endeavor.

Then suddenly one realizes that many of the rejections are compliments in disguise and one begins to see rejection as a blessing not a curse. Life becomes much easier and more fun when that realization takes hold.

What a horrible feeling it is to be hired for a job and once it begins you realize it isn't at all what you want to be doing or maybe the job description didn't fit with your experience and education at all. An upfront brutal rejection by the hiring manager would have been a gift.

Or on the romantic front, you find yourself involved with someone for a period of time and then realize you've been sold a bill of goods, in fact deceived. You realize the person you're with isn't at all what the initial packaging advertised. Now the daily mantra becomes, how do I get out of this one!

All of this I suppose is a part of living and is how most of us learn about life.
Some people learn by logic but it seems most of us learn by bitter experience.

The saving grace of being older is that although the rejections continue, one can retreat in peace and with a smile since the daily mantra becomes...I'm weary, been there-done that so I don't really give a fuck about your stupid party anyway!